Apparatus for individualizing cottonseed



Feb. 16, 1965 1.. L. HOLZENTHAL ETAL 3,169,277

APPARATUS FOR INDIVIDUALIZING COTTONSEED 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept.18, 1962 FIG. 3

s RLK O C o m T s M G mA .0 R A 0 EM .LE

WILLIAM T. GENTRY BY W ' ATTORNEY Feb. 16, 1965 L. L. HOLZENTHAL ETAL3,169,277

APPARATUS FOR INDIVIDUALIZING COTTONSEED Filed Sept. 18, 1962 2Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

Z63 59 l i l I as FIG. 4

2s 27 INVENTORS 1v 771 LEO L. HOLZENTHAL /[////fl//////$,/ i Y////////A///////4/Q EDWARD A. GASTROCK WILLIAM T. GENTRY 25 BYWA/XFFORNEY 3,169,277 APPARalUS FER ENTIEVEDUAHZING $TEQNEEE L.Hoizenthai, New tlrleans, Edward A. Gastrocir,

M'etairie, and William: T. Gentry, 31:, New {)rieans, Len,

assignors to the United States of America as represented by theSecretary of Agrieuh re Fiied Sept. 18, 1%2, Ser. No. 3 mamas. {$3.19-45 (Granted under Title 35, US. Qode (1952 see. 266) A non-exclusive,irrevocable, royalty-free license in the invention herein described,throughout the world for all purposes of the United States Government,with the power to grant sublicenses for such purposes, is hereby grantedto the Government of the United States of America.

This invention relates to an apparatus for individualizing cottonseedand feeding the individualized cottonseed to a cleaning device that willsubsequently separate the cottonseed from debris such as field trash,cottonseed stems, leaves, outer boll wall, shale, sand, dirt, and thelike. Such debris is commonly associated with cottonseed in the mattedand tangled condition. The operation of individualizing orparticularizing cottonseed is referred to in the industry as the openingof cottonseed, and these terms will be used throughout the specificationand claims to refer to such operations. It is well known that theefficient cleaning of cottonseed by whatever means requires the thoroughopening of the matted and compacted mass of cottonseed as it comes fromthe gin.

The apparatus that is the subject of this invention is designed as apiece of auxiliary equipment operating as an adjunct to a cottonseedcleaning device. The opening and the feeding of the opened cottonseed toa cottonseed cleaning apparatus such as the one described in U.S.2,964,189, is a function to which the apparatus of this invention isparticularly well suited. In general, as seen in the drawings, which aredescribed in detail below, the apparatus according to this inventioncomprises a contoured housing having an inlet and an outlet end, ordelivery opening, and a pair of adjacent rotors mounted in the housingwith their axes of rotation parallel to each other. Each rotor isprovided with a plurality of radiallyextending spikes. Before the inletend, and communicatin therewith, is a first box-like chamber having parallel side walls, while to the delivery opening, and cornmunicatingtherewith, there is attached a second box-like chamber with at least twofacing side walls uniformly flaring outward relative to one another in adirection away from the contoured housing. A slanted rebound baffle isattached to the expansion chamber opposite the point where the latter isattached to the outlet end of the contoured housing and forms anotherwall of the expansion chamber. This bafile is disposed at an angle awayfrom and outward relative to the plane of rotation of the rotors. In thepreferred arrangement, the contoured housing is provided with the feedopening at the top, immediately above the rotors, while the deliveryopening is immediately below the rotors. The expansion chamber attachedto the delivery opening therefore extends downward from the point ofattachment with its walls flaring outward laterally in a horizontaldirection. It is the purpose of this expansion compartment toaccommodate the increased space required by the opened cottonseed aftertheir passage through the spiked rotors. The rebound bafiie, which istransverse to the expansion chamber, slopes downward from the rear wallof the latter to the front, and is so located relative to the spikedrotors that the entire volume of individualized cottonseed issuing fromthe rotors following passage through the rotors, is delivered onto thesloped surface of the United States Patent 0 'ice rebound bafile boardand directed outward from the sloped surface toward the adjacentcottonseed cleaning device. is provided over the baffle. feature of theinstant apparatus functions to effect the eflicient removal of debrisfrom the opened cottonseed and effectively prevents the retangling andmatting of the opened cottonseed prior totheir entry into the adjacentcottonseed cleaning device. The spikes of the rotors of this apparatusare mounted in rows as, radii of the rotor shafts and the spikes arecovered with rubber or some material with similar properties for thepurpose of preventing fragmentation of the cottonseed during passagethrough the rotors. Rotor rotation is counter each to the other andcounter severally to the flow direction of the cottonseed entering thefeed opening of the rotor housing. The speed of rotation is adjustableto suit the feed rate and the difficulty of the opening job. we preferto operate our rotors, which are approximately 9" in diameter, at 9501.p.m., wh ch speed affords the chicient opening of cottonseed at therate of about one ton per hour.

So that the invention will be better understood, reference is now madeto the following detailed description of the preferred form of theapparatus and to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus, with parts omitted(e.g., gears 36 and 31) for clarity, showing the arrangement of therotors with respect to the inlet and discharge ends;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation in section taken on line 2-4; in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the apparatus, with a portion of the upperstructure removed to show the relative arrangement of the spiked rotors;and

FiGURE 4 is an enlarged view of one of the rotor spikes showing theresilient covering.

Referring to FIGURES l and 2, it is seen that the apparatus comprises apair of curved side walls 1 and 2 and rectilinear front and rear walls 3and 4, respectively. The combination of side walls l and Z and front andrear walls 3 and 4 constitutes the contoured housing, indicatedgenerally by 5, previously referred to. The contoured housing may beassembled in any suitable manner known to skilled mechanics. Thus, ascan be seen from FIG- URES 1-3, front and rear walls 3 and 4 can beprovided with flanges 34, 35, 36, and 37 which match the curvature of,but extend beyond side walls 1 and 2. The latter can be provided with aplurality of lugs or brackets (not shown) secured thereto and fastenedto front and rear walls 3 and 4 by means of bolts 38 and nuts 39. Theupper ends of the curved side walls lie in a horizontal plane whichdefines the inlet end 6 of the contoured hous ing. Extending upward fromthe upper ends of the curved side walls are a pair of parallelrectilinear side walls 7 and 8, which, together with rectilinear frontand rear walls 3 and 4, constitute a first box-like compartment 9. Sidewalls '7 and 8 may be integral with their respective curved walls orthey may be separate elements secured in any suitable manner to thecurved side walls. Mounted on top of compartment 9 is a funnel memberlit, having a restricted feed opening, through Which clumps of mattedcottonseed are fed to the apparatus.

The lower ends of the curved side walls lie in a plane defining anoutlet end, or discharge opening 11 of the contoured housing. Connectedto the lower ends of the curved side walls is a pair of downwardlyextending, outwardly flaring rectilinear side walls 12 and 13, whichtogether with the lower extension 14 of rear wall 4-, form an expansionchamber 15, immediately below and communicating with discharge opening11. The front of the apparatus is provided with a sloping partial frontA covering of rubber or similar elastic material The rebound bafileboard 3 Wall 16, while, at the lowermost end, a forwardly slanted baflle17 is attached to side walls 12 and 13 and rear wall 14 to form a bottomfor the expansion chamber.

Inside the contoured housing is a pair of rotors, generally designatedas 18 and 19, having their axes of rotation parallel, and journalled inbearings 20, 21, 22, and 23 secured to front and rear walls 3 and 4. Aswill be apparent from FIGURE 2, baflle 17 is disposed at an angle awayfrom and outward relative to the plane of rotation of rotors 18 and 19.The rotors comprise shaft portions 24 and 25 upon which are rigidlymounted a plurality of radially extending spikes 26 having a cover 27 ofrubber or any other suitable resilient material. Details of one of suchspikes and its cover are shown enlarged in FIGURE 4. As can be seen fromFIGURE 3, the spikes on one rotor are not vis-a-vis the spikes on theother rotor, but are staggered with respect to one another. Shafts 24and 25 are provided with shaft extensions 28 and 29 extending throughrear wall 4 to provide a mounting for meshing driving gears 30 and 31.Shaft extension 29 is further provided with pulley 32 which is connectedby means of a belt, not shown, to any suitable driving means, also notshown. In'this manner, rotors 18 and 19 are made to rotate in oppositedirections, as shown by the curved arrows in FIGURE 1.

In the preferred form of the apparatus, sides 12 and 13, back 14, andbaffle 17 are each provided with a rubber or other resilient cover 33 toprotect their surfaces and to provide a resilient rebound surface whichprevents fracture of the cottonseed and also improves the reboundcharacteristics of the latter.

Although the relativespatial positions of the rotors, spikes, and wallsof the contoured housing have been shown somewhat exaggerated tofacilitate illustration, the distances are actually such that clumps ofunopened cottonseed are unable to pass either between the spikes orbetween the two rotors themselves, or between the rotors and the curvedsides of the contoured housing. However, the spacing is great enough sothat individualized or opened cottonseed are able to pass freely betweenthe rotors and the curved sides of the housing.

The operation of the opening and feeding device can be described asfollows. Unopened cottonseed is fed down through the feed orifice intothe untangling compartment 9 located immediately above the contouredrotor housing and communicating therewith. The unopened and tangledmasses of cottonseed contact the rapidly moving spikes 26 of the counterrotating rotors and conglomerates of unopened cottonseed are struck bythe rapidly moving spikes and driven back upward to ward the feedorifice. Note that the constricted feed orifice 10 performs theessential function of preventing cottonseed that is inside the machine,and undergoing the process of individualization, from being driven upand out of the rotor compartment and the disentangling compartment.Although clumps of unopened cottonseed are unable to pass either betweenthe two rotors or around the rotors alongside the contoured housing,individ ualized cottonseed are able to pass freely around the rotorsalongside the inner wall of the contoured rotor housing in a pathindicated by arrows. Uniopened clumps of cottonseed are continuallyacted upon by the revolving spiked rotors which causes the clumps tomove in a rolling, circular path in the untangling compartment 9immediately above the rotors, as indicated in FIGURE 1 by the circulesof arrows above rotors 18 and 19, until such time as they becomeindividualized. The individualized cottonseed which pass the rotors andare accelerated to a relatively high velocity by the rotors are drivenfirst against the downward and outward flaring sidewalls l2 and 13 ofthe expansion chamber 15, and then onto the sloping face of the reboundbaffle board 17. The now thoroughly untangled cottonseed are deflectedfrom the rebound batlle board out and away from the opening apparatustoward a cottonseed cleaning device such as, for'example, the inclinedtravelling belt cleaner described in US. 2,964,180.

Although front and rear walls 3 and 4, as well as partial wall 16, havebeen shown in the drawings as being transparent, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that this propertyis not essential topracticing the invention and that these wall members can be made of anysuitable structural material without in the least afiecting theoperation of the apparatus.

Having thus described the opening and cleaning apparatus for cottonseed,What we claim is:

1. Apparatus for particularizing cottonseed comprismg:

(a) a contoured housing having an inlet and an outlet end; (b) a pair ofadjacent rotors mounted in the contoured housing with their axes ofrotation parallel;

(c) a plurality of radially-extending spikes secured to each rotor;

(d) means connected to the rotors for driving said rotors;

(e) a first combination of rectilinear side walls defining a firstessentially box-like compartment with parallel facing side wallscontiguous with and in communication with the inlet end of the contouredhousing, said first box-like compartment being provided with arestricted feed orifice;

(f) a second combination of rectilinear walls defining a secondessentially box-like compartment attached to and in communication withthe outlet end of the contoured housing, said second box-likecompartment forming an expansion chamber having at least two oppositeside walls uniformly flared outward relative to one another in adirection away from the point of attachment to the contoured housing;

and

(g) a slanted rebound baffle attached to the second boxlike compartmentopposite the point of attachment of said second box-like compartment tothe contoured housing and forming another rectilinear wall of saidsecond box-like compartment, said baffle being disposed at an angle awayfrom and outward relative to the plane of rotation of the rotors.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the individual rotor spikes areencased in an elastic material.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the inner walls of the said secondbox-like'compartment and the inner surf-ace of the rebound bafile boardare covered with a layer of smooth, resilient material.

No references cited.

DONALD \V. PARKER, Primary Examiner.

s5 RUSSELL c MADER, E i

1. APPARATUS FOR PARTICULARIZING COTTONSEED COMPRISING: (A) A CONTOUREDHOUSING HAVING AN INLET AND AN OUTLET END; (B) A PAIR OF ADJACENT ROTORSMOUNTED IN THE CONTOURED HOUSING WITH THEIR AXES OF ROTATION PARALLEL;(C) A PLURALITY OF RADIALLY-EXTENDING SPIKES SECURED TO EACH ROTOR; (D)MEANS CONNECTED TO THE ROTORS FOR DRIVING SAID ROTORS; (E) A FIRSTCOMBINATION OF RECTILINEAR SIDE WALLS DEFINING A FIRST ESSENTIALLYBOX-LIKE COMPARTMENT WITH PARALLEL FACING SIDE WALLS CONTIGUOUS WITH ANDIN COMMUNICATION WITH THE INLET END OF THE CONTOURED HOUSING, SAID FIRSTBOX-LIKE COMPARTMENT BEING PROVIDED WITH A RESTRICTED FEED ORIFICE; (F)A SECOND COMBINATION OF RECTILINEAR WALLS DEFINING A SECOND ESSENTIALLYBOX-LIKE COMPARTMENT ATTACHED TO AND IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE OUTLETEND OF THE CONTOURED HOUSING, SAID SECOND BOX-LIKE COMPARTMENT FORMINGAN EXPANSION CHAMBER HAVING AT LEAST TWO OPPOSITE SIDE WALLS UNIFORMLYFLARED OUTWARD RELATIVE TO ONE ANOTHER IN A DIRECTION AWAY FROM THEPOINT OF ATTACHMENT TO THE CONTOURED HOUSING; AND (G) A SLANTED REBOUNDBAFFLE ATTACHED TO THE SECOND BOXLIKE COMPARTMENT OPPOSITE THE POINT OFATTACHMENT OF SAID SECOND BOX-LIKE COMPARTMENT TO THE CONTOURED HOUSINGAND FORMING ANOTHER RECTILINEAR WALL OF SAID SECOND BOX-LIKECOMPARTMENT, SAID BAFFLE BEING DISPOSED AT AN ANGLE AWAY FROM ANDOUTWARD RELATIVE TO THE PLANE OF ROTATION OF THE ROTORS.